Going to hotels and spas is cool and all, but enjoying some luxury in the comfort of your own home is a whole new level. Home improvements are a great way to enhance your life quality and, as a plus, they will increase your home’s market value if you ever wish to sell your property.
If you are thinking of investing in some home improvements, today we’re going to suggest 5 ideas that will take your home to a new standard.
Outdoors Kitchen
Outdoor kitchens are awesome to bring the family together, take advantage of your garden, and enjoy the open space. In a place like San Diego where we get over 300 sunny days a year, there will surely be plenty of opportunities to enjoy a meal outside.
There are many different designs you can get for your outdoor kitchen. Adding a built-in barbecue or grill, a wood-burning stove, a fire-place, a bar, and much more. It all depends on your preferences and the space you have available.
Keep in mind you might want to have a covered area to keep appliances safe on rainy days (even tho there aren’t many of them here) and look out for opportunities to integrate your outdoor kitchen to other features of your garden or yard like pools, jacuzzis, landscape or views.
Go Eco-friendly
Going eco-friendly and lessening your carbon print is good for you, for the planet, and for everyone. A lot of these improvements are also energy-efficient and can help lower your monthly expenses in your home. There are many ways to make your house “greener”. You can choose to make big changes or implement small things as you go.
If you aim to make your home more energy-efficient you can get solar panels installed to generate green energy and lower your electricity bill. You can also replace your roofs with cool roofs that help keep your house temperature more stable through hot summers. Dual-panned windows are great for keeping heat and noise insolation and many energy-efficient windows qualify for credits and rebates.
But energy is not the only thing you can save. Replacing toilets, faucets and showerheads can save up a lot of water. A programmable thermostat allows you to set your home temperature according to your routine so it can be as efficient as possible. And you can also “go green” by being careful about the materials you use when remodeling anything else in your home. Eco-friendly floorings, reclaimed woods and Low-VOC Paint are great options.
Sauna or Steam Room
Feeling like you need a spa day? If you have a sauna you don’t even have to bother leaving your home!! This is one of the greatest improvements in this list. You can relax with great style after a workday or get a well deserved deep skin steam treatment over the weekend.
Saunas or steam rooms have been used for therapy for a long time. Not only are they great for relaxation and providing a stress-free environment, there are also many health benefits in using them regularly. It increases blood circulation which can help with muscle soreness, improve joint movement, and help with arthritis, for example. It helps with weight loss, reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and flushes toxins out of your body.
Aside from the obvious reasons why owning your private and always-available sauna is amazing, it also highly increases your home value. In a competitive market, a sauna can really make your house stand-out and many buyers are willing to pay a couple hundred or even thousands more for the benefit of having this.
Remodel the Basement
Basements are one of the most neglected rooms in many houses. This is a waste of space! The limits to what you can do with your basement are only dependent on your own imagination!
You could create a calm home office space where you can work peacefully when you need to work from home. Or maybe a reading space for you or your kids! What about a guest room? Or you can have it be an entertainment space. Make it into a cinema or a playroom! Maybe even a wine cellar! Anything you can think of works!
Another option is to create a smart storage space so that you can declutter other divisions in your home making them more spacious and sophisticated. The important thing is to make sure this is actually a usable space and not just somewhere you dump stuff you will probably never use again to collect dust and mold (eww).
Lighting Is Everything
DO NOT underestimate the importance of proper lighting! Lighting will set the mood and feeling in every space in your home. It doesn’t matter if you have the most beautifully decorated rooms with top of the line appliances and luxurious furniture, if the lighting is off it can ruin everything.
Improving lighting in your home might mean changing the type, color, and temperature of your light bulbs. But it might also have to do with increasing sunlight, installing new lights, and setting the right mood according to the purpose of the room.
Hiring a specialist might be particularly important in this case as many of the improvements can seem subtle even though they make a huge difference!
Are you looking for your dream home or planning on selling one of your properties? Don’t hesitate to reach out, I’d be more than happy to help you!
